


Champagne & Duties

by britishbossy



Category: Victoria (Jenna Coleman), Victoria (itv), Victoria TV (2016)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-29
Updated: 2016-08-29
Packaged: 2018-08-11 19:28:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,268
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7904764
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/britishbossy/pseuds/britishbossy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What goes on inside Lord Melbourne when Victoria is flirting with him. - from the TV-series "Victoria", starring Jenna Coleman on itv.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Champagne & Duties

Champagne & Duties

 

When they were away from prying eyes Lord Melbourne stood in front of his Queen who was more than a little bit drunk. It had all come crushing down on the poor girl, all at once. And tonight, while trying in a rather stubborn way to prove Sir John, her mother and all those who held doubts towards her wrong, she had overestimated herself. It was obvious that she was still not sure how to deal with it – being Queen. Although Melbourne knew that she had a lot of potential. She was young but clever and a quick study. And above everything else she had a certain amount of passion a true ruler was in need of. However, seeing her swaying and babbeling under the influence of alcohol he decided that it would be for the best to get her to retire. All of her guests had already noticed the state she was in. She had raised her voice in the exact moment when the music had ended, her tone too rough and her words spoken rudely. Lord Melbourne could almost hear them gossiping about the Queen who had done nothing but being what she was – a girl of only 18 years.

_“Old enough to be a Queen”_ , she had said, looking up at him with those bright blue eyes, while he had held her in his arms, waltzing through the hall with her. By now she was whirling around in the empty candlelit corridor they were standing in, laughing lightly and slowly losing connection with reality. Melbourne realised that he had to stop her. He had to because he was the only one she would listen to.

“I'm afraid you're tired, Ma'am. Perhaps you should retire.”, he carefully yet firmly pointed out. This brought her eyes back to him. “I don’t want to retire”, she answered and she smiled brightly when she stepped closer to him and caught hold of both his hands.

“I want to dance with you!”

_“I wish I could dance with you every night.”_

He let her pull him close to her until he was standing right in front of her, her hands rested on his chest. Her expression changed into a serious one once she realised how close they were in that moment. He heard the slightest hitch in her breath and willed himself to stay calm. His Queen was looking at him with wide, dreamy and almost pleading eyes, wordlessly begging him to do...what? To touch her? To give her another dance? To kiss her? His eyes involuntary went to her slightly parted lips and he could not help but wonder what they would feel like, what they would taste like. Melbourne felt his heart pump strongly in his chest and suddenly his throat felt rather dry. She made the smallest movement with her head up, towards him as if she was about to stand on her tiptoes, to lean in and just... Melbourne bowed his head a little, looking at her while everything around them went blurry. The voices of the guest and the bits of their conversations seemed to fade until they were heard no more. And his Queen wouldn’t look anywhere but him. He could feel her hands through the fabric of his waistcoat, soothingly moving up and down, making it impossible to focus on anything. They were standing much too close, so close he could almost taste her breath. He imagined tasting champagne on her tongue. The thought alone was enough to paralise him. He had been tempted before but never like this, not by a Queen.

Lord Melbourne had noticed, of course. She had liked him from the day they’d met, trusting his advice and keeping him as her only companion. A friend. But during the past weeks she had more often glanced at him with something different in her eyes. It was a hopeful look, full of dreams and unspoken images. He had noticed her looking at him when she thought he couldn’t see it. When she thought he wasn’t paying attention. But here his Queen had underestimated him; Lord Melbourne was always paying attention. And so was everyone else. The Queen's looks had not gone unnoticed. Perhaps he had seen it coming. He wasn’t sure if he had and simply tried to forget about it, believing that it would pass. Or if he had noticed and rather enjoyed it. But at what price? Now that he found himself standing there in the candlelight, their faces only inches apart and the thought of kissing her overwhelming his mind. It was then when it hit him and he was thunderstruck. She was fond of him, deeply so as it seemed. Melbourne felt his blood heat in his veins and he swallowed. This was madness, he knew.

All of a sudden he remembered the words of Sir John, only a few weeks ago: _“I cannot look into your soul. But you are a man and she is a very young woman”._

Back then, Lord Melbourne had left, trying his best to look amused by Sir John’s accusation. But as soon as he had been alone, his mask had slipped. He had stood in front of a mirror, studying his features. Was he more to the Queen than just her advisor and friend? Did he want to be more that this? It would have been a lie to say he had not thougt about it. The young woman was looking up to him, seeing him as a friend, the first man who had treated her with respect and kindness after years in the company of vile Sir John who had done nothing but patronising her and turning her own mother against her.

Victoria had been in need of someone who would look out for her interests and from the first day he’d met her Lord Melbourne had decided to be that man. Her passion, courage and strength had impressed him, not to speak of her kind nature. He had always assumed that one day she would make a beautiful Queen; a Queen the people would respect and love. But it had not been before one day on their usual hack that Melbourne had realised that his heart already belonged to her, to the girl behind the crown, truly and irrevocably.

Regardless of what he felt, his first duty belonged to the Queen’s safety and reputation. And as such he would not do something that may cause a scandal. So, he took a deep yet quiet breath and leant back, his eyes not leaving hers.

“Not tonight, Ma’am”, he murmured, his voice a bit too hoarse. 

For one single moment she looked as if she was going to ignore his denial. She looked ready to overcome every doubt, duty and morality be damned. Ready to touch her lips to his, to have her first kiss consumed by a man who had been unable to keep his own wife from betraying him. He shook his head. She was intoxicated, she didn’t know what she was doing. And in the morning she would regret it, just as she would regret to have had too much champagne. Finally she understood his meaning and broke the eye contact, turning her head away. She nodded to herself, her expression taken over by hurt. And then without another word she walked past him and vanished down the corridor to her rooms.

Lord Melbourne sighed as he watched her go. He had done the right thing, he knew. He had done absolutely the right thing. And yet he felt a sense of loss.


End file.
